copcalfandomcom-20200215-history
Age Ain't Nothing But A Number
Age Ain't Nothing but a Number is the debut studio album by American R&B recording artist Aaliyah, will be released under Warner Music Group and Desperado Records on September 21, 2018 in the United States. After being signed by her uncle Barry Hankerson, Aaliyah was introduced to recording artist and producer R. Kelly. He became her mentor, as well as the lead songwriter and producer of the album. The duo recorded the album at the Chicago Recording Company in Chicago, Illinois. The album features 2 singles, Back & Forth was released on July 6, 2018 and became a worldwide smash in a short time. It hit #1 in US & stayed there for a record-breaking 3 weeks. The single has sold over 9M copies as of September 10, 2018. The second single off the album "Down With The Clique" was released on August 31, 2018. The song features Miley Cyrus. Age Ain't Nothing But a Number received mixed reviews from critics. Many noted Aaliyah's vocal ability but also reviewed the album in a negative way, writing that it sounds "boring". The album debuted at #1 in all the countries official album charts. The album debuted at #1 in US, with over 280,000 sales. Background Aaliyah's uncle Barry Hankerson, was an entertainment lawyer who had been married to Gladys Knight.8 As a child, Aaliyah traveled with Knight and worked with an agent in New York to audition for commercials and television programs, including Family Matters.9When she was only ten years old she went on to appear on Star Search where she performed my funny valentine.10 Aaliyah chose to begin auditioning while her mother made the decision to have her surname dropped.1112 She auditioned for several record labels and at age 11 appeared in concerts alongside Gladys Knight.813 Aaliyah performed alongside Gladys Knight for 5 nights in Las Vegas, during the concerts she would perform a number in the middle of Knight's set and she would also help close the show by singing a duet with Knight.14 When speaking about her experience from performing with Knight Aaliyah said "it was a great learning experience".14 She also mentioned "I Learned a lot about being on stage and how audiences react differently to various songs".14 When Aaliyah was twelve, Hankerson would take her to Vanguard studios to work on demos with record producer and Vanguard owner Michael J. Powell.15 In an interview Powell stated, “At the time, Barry was trying to get Aaliyah a deal with MCA, and he came to me to make her demos.” During her time working with Powell Aaliyah recorded multiple covers such as "The Greatest Love of All", "Over the Rainbow", and "My Funny Valentine", which she had sung on Star Search.15 Eventually Hankerson started shopping Aaliyah around to various labels such as Warner Bros and MCA Records, although the executives at both labels liked her singing they didn't sign her according to hankerson. 16 After failed attempts to getting Aaliyah signed to multiple labels Hankerson then shifted his focus to getting Aaliyah signed to Jive records the label his artist R kelly was signed to. 16 According to former Jive records A&R Jeff Sledge the former owner of JIVE records didn't want to sign Aaliyah at first because he felt that a 12 year old was too young to be signed to the label. Sledge stated in an interview "The guy who owned Jive at the time, Clive Calder, he’s also an A&R person by trade. He was basically head of the A&R department. Barry kept shopping her to him and he saw something, but he said, ‘She’s not ready, she’s still young, she needs to be developed more.’ Barry would go back and develop her more".17 After developing Aaliyah more as an artist Hankerson finally signed a distribution deal with Jive Records, and he signed her to his Blackground Records label at the age of 12.171819 When Aaliyah finally got a chance to audition for the record executives at Jive records she sang Vision of Love performed by Mariah Carey.20 Track listing All songs were written and produced by R. Kelly, except for "At Your Best (You Are Love)", written by Ernie Isley, Marvin Isley, O'Kelly Isley, Jr., Ronald Isley and Chris Jasper.